I would absolutely love to make the playoffs and even have a sniff at home court in the first round. But please explain how adding Lowry, Ross, Acy, and Big Val creates a jump in our winning percentage by 20%

I would absolutely love to make the playoffs and even have a sniff at home court in the first round. But please explain how adding Lowry, Ross, Acy, and Big Val creates a jump in our winning percentage by 20%

its funy you dont consider just the fact that ab is healtly and for the first time he didn play for italy so yes if you put a healty ab
(whom the team was 1 game below .500 with and u add lowry and field wow.)

its sample u change calderon and rasual butler and replace them with lowry and fields plus u got calderon of the bench humm
yes i believe)

I think the consensus that all fans reached about last season is that we played .500 ball last year with a healthy Bargnani and that we could have finished with that 0.500 record by the end of the year with all our players being/reamining healthy.

Luckily, or not, we did have the injuries that sidelined Bargnani, LK and others for extended periods of time, which resulted in us being in a position to draft Ross, make a move for Lowry and also JV is here. We should also expect improvement from Bargnani, DeRozan, Kleiza and some other guys like Ed Davis...

With all of that in mind, all of the improvements, full training camp, and provided all our players remain healthy for most of the season, I really don't see why we shouldn't be able to play 0.500 ball, even when taking into account that the east has gotten much stronger this year.

I really do not expect us to reach higher though than an 8th spot in the east, but this also means that we're targeting somewhere between 37-43 wins. (I think the top 6 teams in the east will take a lot of W's from the remaining teams). Everything below 34 wins for Raps will be considered a disappointment, I guess, and will result in a 11th spot or so... Everything above 41 wins will be great for us and should guarantee a playoff berth. Getting more than 43 wins, would be considered an extra-ordinary turnaround for our franchise.

Leading up to last season, I think most people would've been surprised to hear that the Raptors would win 23 games. Most of us had realistic expectations of a top 3 pick. Yet somehow, someway, Casey got the team to overachieve.

This year, I'm sure a lot of the optimists are relying on that same "Casey effect" to continue. Perhaps this team is only good enough to win 30 games on paper. But add in Casey's influence, and maybe we sneak out one extra win per month, which would put us in an interesting stretch of meaningful games to close out the regular season.

Here is a crazy idea

Why not wait and enjoy some basketball without putting a nail in the coffin. It looks like we are gonna have an entertaining season and to sit here day after day and contemplate what they may or may not do is pointless, its tiresome and really every year this is why we watch cause we don't know.

Why not wait and enjoy some basketball without putting a nail in the coffin. It looks like we are gonna have an entertaining season and to sit here day after day and contemplate what they may or may not do is pointless, its tiresome and really every year this is why we watch cause we don't know.

I'm excited. 6 days. NBA basketball. Its gonna be fun. Enjoy it.

There's a reason there are forums on the internet. To discuss what a team will/will not do. What a team can/should//shouldn't/cannot do. Must I elaborate.

Although I agree with your point of just enjoy a team that will be entertaining, but I'm just making a counter

I think the consensus that all fans reached about last season is that we played .500 ball last year with a healthy Bargnani and that we could have finished with that 0.500 record by the end of the year with all our players being/reamining healthy.

Luckily, or not, we did have the injuries that sidelined Bargnani, LK and others for extended periods of time, which resulted in us being in a position to draft Ross, make a move for Lowry and also JV is here. We should also expect improvement from Bargnani, DeRozan, Kleiza and some other guys like Ed Davis...

With all of that in mind, all of the improvements, full training camp, and provided all our players remain healthy for most of the season, I really don't see why we shouldn't be able to play 0.500 ball, even when taking into account that the east has gotten much stronger this year.

I really do not expect us to reach higher though than an 8th spot in the east, but this also means that we're targeting somewhere between 37-43 wins. (I think the top 6 teams in the east will take a lot of W's from the remaining teams). Everything below 34 wins for Raps will be considered a disappointment, I guess, and will result in a 11th spot or so... Everything above 41 wins will be great for us and should guarantee a playoff berth. Getting more than 43 wins, would be considered an extra-ordinary turnaround for our franchise.

We played sub .500 ball (close, but not quite) when AB was healthy AND playing better than he ever had before. It was also at the very outset of a messed up season so, IMO, results should be taken with a grain of salt. You can say the same about the finish of the year when AB was playing hurt and rusty and weak. Average it out and you end up with a better than expected but still crappy Raps squad.

That being said, this team is much improved, at least on paper. If everything breaks our way we make the playoffs as a low seed. This means good bargs is here to stay, derozan gets to the line and stops being a sieve on d, Landry picks his game back up, Linas picks his game back up, Ross and vala adapt to the L quickly and are effective off the bat, chemistry isn't an issue, amir and Jose become that bad ass PnR tandem, Ed finally steps up and Casey figures out an effective offensive scheme. This is what I want to happen.

That's asking a lot. Most likely the rooks will have as many downs as ups, injuries will always be a factor (bargs/Lowry/Amir are worrisome) 3 point shooting will still be a big question mark, fields will be somewhere between y1 and y2, Ed will still be Ed, kleiza will still be a tweener with great games mixed in around mostly m'eh games and a lack of an upper tier all star type will still be a huge hurdle. If that happens we may still squeak into 8th depending on atl/chi and unforeseen injuries in Boston, Indy or NYK but should at least be in the mix of troublesome teams on the bubble. This is what I think will happen.

If the raps break bad, and that is every bit as possible as breaking good, we get another great pick in a bad draft. Oh god I hope this doesn't happen.

We played sub .500 ball (close, but not quite) when AB was healthy AND playing better than he ever had before. It was also at the very outset of a messed up season so, IMO, results should be taken with a grain of salt. You can say the same about the finish of the year when AB was playing hurt and rusty and weak. Average it out and you end up with a better than expected but still crappy Raps squad.

That being said, this team is much improved, at least on paper. If everything breaks our way we make the playoffs as a low seed. This means good bargs is here to stay, derozan gets to the line and stops being a sieve on d, Landry picks his game back up, Linas picks his game back up, Ross and vala adapt to the L quickly and are effective off the bat, chemistry isn't an issue, amir and Jose become that bad ass PnR tandem, Ed finally steps up and Casey figures out an effective offensive scheme. This is what I want to happen.

That's asking a lot. Most likely the rooks will have as many downs as ups, injuries will always be a factor (bargs/Lowry/Amir are worrisome) 3 point shooting will still be a big question mark, fields will be somewhere between y1 and y2, Ed will still be Ed, kleiza will still be a tweener with great games mixed in around mostly m'eh games and a lack of an upper tier all star type will still be a huge hurdle. If that happens we may still squeak into 8th depending on atl/chi and unforeseen injuries in Boston, Indy or NYK but should at least be in the mix of troublesome teams on the bubble. This is what I think will happen.

If the raps break bad, and that is every bit as possible as breaking good, we get another great pick in a bad draft. Oh god I hope this doesn't happen.

You are correct that there is as much chance of things going bad, as there is for it to go well this season. The one thing I'm trying to keep in mind is that much like last season we should be able to hang our hats on defense. Casey is a contstant in this equation, so the defense should not change too dramatically. Also, those other teams in our division that don't have our depth like say Philly for example are an injury to a key player away from a lost season. The Rap's on the other hand can afford to lose any single key player from the roster and shouldn't really miss a step. Defense and depth are the two key factors imo to making the playoffs this season.

As we are composed on paper and taking into account improvements and non-improvements other teams in our conference have made, I'd say between 7 and 10 in the East. However I wouldn't be surprised if they finish with say 45-46 wins. One or both Rookies could surprise us by exceeding expectations.

Didnt look at back to backs, or anything just games I thought we should take beyond reasonable doubt.

The thing I do like, is that if we do achieve something close to that record, I believe there is a great chance of us making the playoffs. We close against chicago(x2), brooklyn and boston. These teams ( especially boston) could sit the starters ( we all know boston will, and depending on Droses health), obviously depending on seeding and Games back.

You are correct that there is as much chance of things going bad, as there is for it to go well this season. The one thing I'm trying to keep in mind is that much like last season we should be able to hang our hats on defense. Casey is a contstant in this equation, so the defense should not change too dramatically. Also, those other teams in our division that don't have our depth like say Philly for example are an injury to a key player away from a lost season. The Rap's on the other hand can afford to lose any single key player from the roster and shouldn't really miss a step. Defense and depth are the two key factors imo to making the playoffs this season.

Actually, in regards to the D, I think we'll be better. Lowry and Fields are upgrades in the starting line up. Vala and Ross project to be big time additions to the bench (even if Vala starts it's still an upgrade) and McGuire is only even in the L for his lockdown ability. The D shouldn't be an issue at all this year. I think it's all gonna come down to Smitchs favourite scapegoat: Shawts.

Actually, in regards to the D, I think we'll be better. Lowry and Fields are upgrades in the starting line up. Vala and Ross project to be big time additions to the bench (even if Vala starts it's still an upgrade) and McGuire is only even in the L for his lockdown ability. The D shouldn't be an issue at all this year. I think it's all gonna come down to Smitchs favourite scapegoat: Shawts.

I've taken some flack from other posters because I tend to think the upgrades we've made defensively might be a bit negated by the return of AB to the starting line up. He played pretty good D at the beginning of the season, but imo Amir and Ed whom started in place of AB while injured are the better defenders (This doesn't mean that what AB brinds on the offensive end is not more valuable). As you pointed out though we've improved defensively with the additions at several other positions so if we can make defense the trade mark of this team we should stand a pretty good chance of out lasting other teams through the season. Playoffs are not such a long shot imo.

I'm really interested to see which Andrea will show up this year: The one that made the haters STFU, (myself first and foremost) or the Andrea we've all grown to know and bag on (for good reason)? If it's good Drea then all else is gravy and playoffs are well within reach. Bad Drea and we're going to be asking too much from the newbies to make much noise.

I have a hard time naming 8 teams in the East that are legitimately better than the Raptors. I can count 7 (Miami, Boston, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Indiana, Chicago [even without Rose they are better than the Raptors. This isn't open for discussion]) but the 8th spot is pretty wide open between the Hawks, Bucks and Raptors. The major thing working against the Raps is that the Atlantic division is now the toughest division in the NBA and they have to play those teams 16 times while teams in a weak division like Atlanta get 12 cakewalk games against Charlotte, Orlando and to a lesser extent Washington